Congress eyes scrapping the 13-cent nickel after killing off the penny to cut taxpayer waste

From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026.

House GOP Conference Chair Lisa McClain is pushing a bill to force the Treasury to study making nickels from cheaper materials after the penny was axed in November 2025. Nickels currently cost 13 cents to produce but are worth only five cents, losing taxpayers roughly eight cents per coin. McClain says Washington must fix the problem rather than waste more money.